dog Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 I was in Fleet yesterday. According to a shop keeper, all the small businesses in the area are desperate for business. Things are quiet when it should be the best time of year for them. Was this an accurate reflection of trading conditions and if so is it local effect? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abaxas Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 I was in Fleet yesterday. According to a shop keeper, all the small businesses in the area are desperate for business. Things are quiet when it should be the best time of year for them. Was this an accurate reflection of trading conditions and if so is it local effect? Just to add.... I was in Meadowhall yesterday and (sadly) had to walk though House of Fraser. The feeding frenzy was amazing! Fashion victims fighting over the 20% off day. Pre-chrismas sale? ermmmm what is going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OurDayWillCome Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 (edited) I was in Fleet yesterday. According to a shop keeper, all the small businesses in the area are desperate for business. Things are quiet when it should be the best time of year for them. Was this an accurate reflection of trading conditions and if so is it local effect? The big shopping complex in Birmingham, the 'Bullring' has an increasing number of empty outlets. Nike, Benetton, Mexx, Sisley (the usual crap!) have all gone in the past three months. The press seem too have turned their attention away from retail recently - hopefully weak christmas trading will get the headlines going again. abaxas – I've noticed this also. How long can they continue to discount their products for before jobs are cut back? Edited November 30, 2006 by OurDayWillCome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PropertyGuru Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 retail sales are holding up fine wherever I am shopping!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnG Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 retail sales are holding up fine wherever I am shopping!!! Oh, you're a girlie then? I got the impression that you are a bloke. Sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BudoBear Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 Has anyone else had their inbox plagued over the last few days by money-off coupons for major stores? I must've received three or four at the beginning of the week and then someone with a dull job obviously decided to compile the entire list and sent it out as an email viral with discount offers for about a dozen stores. It appears to me that the stores are screaming out for customers, as these coupons were all due to expire within the next couple of weeks. The stores were all fairly pricey fashion outlets, beauty parlours and knicker vendors - oh, and an off license! I shall only be using the latter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portent Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 Unfortunately there is something else going on in the high street... internet sales are taking of in a massive way. So the drop in HS sales is, imho, mostly due to a change in shopping behaviours. Online sales are rocketing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone baby gone Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 Unfortunately there is something else going on in the high street... internet sales are taking of in a massive way. So the drop in HS sales is, imho, mostly due to a change in shopping behaviours. Online sales are rocketing. There is another side to this though... many of the websites that people in the UK will be merrily buying their Xmas pressies from will be companies registered outside of the UK. So lots of money leaving the UK economy that would previously have stayed in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve99 Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 Unfortunately there is something else going on in the high street... internet sales are taking of in a massive way. So the drop in HS sales is, imho, mostly due to a change in shopping behaviours. Online sales are rocketing. This situation may well cure itself when the owners of the retail property and the councils with their buisness rates realise how excessive their rents/rates have been for many years and have to start competing on price themselves to get tenents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veronica Moser Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 I was in Fleet yesterday. According to a shop keeper, all the small businesses in the area are desperate for business. Things are quiet when it should be the best time of year for them. Was this an accurate reflection of trading conditions and if so is it local effect? More clutching at straws by the doom-mongers who are desperately looking around for any bit of bad news, no matter how trivial, that will cause a property crash. This pointless thread just goes to prove the desperation and frustration of the doom-mongers who are completely baffled as to why the housing boom is still continuing and are too blinkered by their own views to understand what is keeping the property market going. The property bears have lost and the property bulls have won. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orbital Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 Has anyone else had their inbox plagued over the last few days by money-off coupons for major stores? I must've received three or four at the beginning of the week and then someone with a dull job obviously decided to compile the entire list and sent it out as an email viral with discount offers for about a dozen stores. It appears to me that the stores are screaming out for customers, as these coupons were all due to expire within the next couple of weeks. The stores were all fairly pricey fashion outlets, beauty parlours and knicker vendors - oh, and an off license! I shall only be using the latter! yeah ive seen loads too - I wonder if some prankster has made some up, there are plenty of hoax mails going round, surely a matter of time before we get hoax coupons! hmm i might start a few myself - the amusing thing is, people will actually go into stores and start trying to use them. Hilarious! Well, maybe not. Anyways if you get a 75% off your next Ferrari voucher in your inbox, it wasnt from me OK ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dog Posted December 1, 2006 Author Share Posted December 1, 2006 More clutching at straws by the doom-mongers who are desperately looking around for any bit of bad news, no matter how trivial, that will cause a property crash. This pointless thread just goes to prove the desperation and frustration of the doom-mongers who are completely baffled as to why the housing boom is still continuing and are too blinkered by their own views to understand what is keeping the property market going. The property bears have lost and the property bulls have won. It is not a case of 'clutching at straws by the doom-mongers'. It is a question trying to determine whether official statistics can be relied upon or whether they are being dressed up and manipulated for ulterior motives. For example, we are being told that last month's new lending for mortgages was amazingly good. The knock on effect of a good mortgage market is a bouyant DIY market. But the DIY business is having a very bad time. This suggests that the full facts are not being honestly reported. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyMe Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 If people can't move or trade up due to pricing then they will not spend the money that goes along with a full refurb. BTL spend as little as possible. OK people that stay put spend some money on doing up their place but it nothing like the scale they would otherwise. Also if they are maxing themselves out on the pruchase price they wonlt have the money to spend onteh refurb anyway. Bad news for DIY and household goods sector, B&Q just sent through a 20% off deal for all tools in store, nuff said, this sort of promo is way differetn to the x% off ktichens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alright Jack Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 (edited) There is another side to this though... many of the websites that people in the UK will be merrily buying their Xmas pressies from will be companies registered outside of the UK. So lots of money leaving the UK economy that would previously have stayed in it. Most of the stuff we consume is not made here anymore so money has already been draining outwards (see trade deficit in goods) Your scenario does impact however because we just send the money out more directly cutting out the middle man (who, temporarily, gets to eat whilst our currency can still buy foreign goods) We're pretty much suffering the problems as the US. It's just that they have done it bigger, better and faster. What is happening, and what will happen, to the dollar will eventually happen here too. Edited December 1, 2006 by Alright Jack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peemac Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 (edited) The big shopping complex in Birmingham, the 'Bullring' has an increasing number of empty outlets. Nike, Benetton, Mexx, Sisley (the usual crap!) have all gone in the past three months. The press seem too have turned their attention away from retail recently - hopefully weak christmas trading will get the headlines going again. abaxas – I've noticed this also. How long can they continue to discount their products for before jobs are cut back? Interesting that, I've noticed the Bullring and a lot of other shopping complexes in Brum have been quiet for a while. We were at the Fort shopping centre yesterday and it was dead. I don't even know how the shops there make it pay, they're all enormous, emloy lots of staff and always seem to be empty. Anyway, I did all my christmas shopping at a discount yesterday. Went to buy a Brio trainset for the nipper, went to toys R us, they had an offer where if you bought a set for £30 or more you got a set worth £40 free. Work that one out Although having said that Brio stuff is well overpriced anyway. Edited December 1, 2006 by peemac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nationalist Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 Apparantly the High Street is causing alarm. Stores are pulling snap one-day sales with 20% off. The other day I asked a manager in Willits if their sale would be continued tomorrow and she said she had no idea because she'd received conflicting instructions from HQ. With Xmas falling on a Monday people are thought to be holding off to the last weekend before buying their pressies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pricedout Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 Didn't we have all this last year, it was going to be a terrible Crimbo for the High St, and then low and behold it all picked up as usual. Is it just spin to try and keep IRs low? I think the time to judge will be in Jan/Feb when the proper figures actually emerge - all else is spin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickbloke Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 I was in Fleet yesterday. According to a shop keeper, all the small businesses in the area are desperate for business. Things are quiet when it should be the best time of year for them. Was this an accurate reflection of trading conditions and if so is it local effect? define 'bad christmas' if you intend to wildly overspend on already chocka credit cards then IVA after christmas & not have to pay it all back it will be a good xmas. timing is of the essence, end of the month, folk not got wages yet, still looking for those bargains. xmas will probably be OK, the aftermath will be interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dog Posted December 1, 2006 Author Share Posted December 1, 2006 Didn't we have all this last year, it was going to be a terrible Crimbo for the High St, and then low and behold it all picked up as usual. Is it just spin to try and keep IRs low? I think the time to judge will be in Jan/Feb when the proper figures actually emerge - all else is spin. Quite right, we had similar warnings last year and then everyone went out and got into even more debt. Is it going to be a repeat of last year or have they really maxed out this time? It does seem odd that B&Q are having a bad time. define 'bad christmas' if you intend to wildly overspend on already chocka credit cards then IVA after christmas & not have to pay it all back it will be a good xmas. timing is of the essence, end of the month, folk not got wages yet, still looking for those bargains. xmas will probably be OK, the aftermath will be interesting. A bad Christmas is one where Gordon Brown doesnt get enough VAT to plug the dyke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickbloke Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 A bad Christmas is one where Gordon Brown doesnt get enough VAT to plug the dyke. he'll just up the VAT on baby milk, prescriptions, gas, electric & other irrelevant trivia to make up the difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Fool & His Borrowed Money Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 More clutching at straws by the doom-mongers who are desperately looking around for any bit of bad news, no matter how trivial, that will cause a property crash. This pointless thread just goes to prove the desperation and frustration of the doom-mongers who are completely baffled as to why the housing boom is still continuing and are too blinkered by their own views to understand what is keeping the property market going. The property bears have lost and the property bulls have won. ok i give in, the bulls are the way forward, BTW Bruno, what do you think about the STR's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 The town seems very busy around my way too & I've yet to find a complaining retailer (if I do I'll ask for a discount). Btw, here's a coupon (no hoax, I used it today)... use it wisely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cockrobin Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 I went on a little errand for a friend one afternoon to Lidl's to buy a back support that he said they were selling cheap. After making an observation that I was one of only a few customers in the shop, I asked two assistants where the back supports were only to find out that neither of them spoke English, so I left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 I went on a little errand for a friend one afternoon to Lidl's to buy a back support that he said they were selling cheap. After making an observation that I was one of only a few customers in the shop, I asked two assistants where the back supports were only to find out that neither of them spoke English, so I left. Maybe English speaking people aren't such a great 'back support' market then. The British are known for their strong backbone afterall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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